you can't go without

My heart sank as soon as the train doors closed. I realised had left my iPhone on the platform. I ran back from the next stop but no one handed in a lost phone. It had been taken.

Fortunately I had the “FindMyiPhone” app installed and this app truly saved the day. Within minutes of returning to the office I was able to log-on and see my iPhone travelling on a different train line. The app let me lock down the phone preventing the bandit from turning it off. Then I triggered a message to appear on the screen offering a $100 reward if he dialled my land line. No response. I then exhausted the final feature of the app by setting off a loud alarm to signal attention. Nothing.

I jumped in a taxi with my colleague and we set off. The thief had got off the train and was on foot. The FindMyiPhone app accurately tracked him within 2 meters. I jumped out of the taxi and found him exiting a port-a-loo. It was a homeless man who’d I’d seen around the station many times. I triggered the alarm again and heard it in his bag. Two minutes later my iPhone was in my hands again and the homeless man was $17 better off (yes, ok, maybe that wasn’t necessary).

This is a true story and it happened only last week. I can’t praise the FindMyiPhone app enough. What a great tool. If you have an iPhone – then install it straight away. You’ll need to install iCloud and make sure you turn “on” the app via the iPhone settings after you’ve installed it.

Android has just launched a similar app but I don’t know how it compares. The iPhone version has impressed me so much that I recommended it to anyone with an iPhone.